Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Prince and Jarnagin rule Valdosta's Azalea Fest 5K

Valdosta Azalea Festival 5KOn 21 April 1949 Miss Betty Ruth Smoak of Walterboro, South Carolina won second place in the competition to be queen of the Gum Turpentine Festival in Valdosta, Georgia. Eventually Miss Smoak's beauty pageant days came to an end and so did the Gum Turpentine Festival. But in 2001 Valdosta got back into the festival business with the annual Azalea Festival, a celebration that included a five-kilometer footrace. It's lost to the mists of time as to whether the Gum Turpentine Festival included any kind of running event, and what Miss Smoak's best 5K time was.


What is quite clear is that on Saturday 9 March 2013 Jesse Prince, Valdosta State junior and cross-country ace, ran 16:17 to win the 13th annual Azalea Festival 5K, besting a field of 125 athletes. For Prince, a selection of the Gulf South Conference's All-Academic Cross-Country Team, it wasn't quite as fast as his 15:54 at the St. John 5K Road Race, but it was fast enough to put him nearly 100 meters ahead of runner-up Nate Wondimu. Wondimu, a VSU freshman, ran 16:36. Another VSU freshman cross-country runner, Carlos Ponce, placed third in 18:39. Danielle Jarnagin, a freshman runner on the VSU women's cross-country team, was the first female finisher in the 2013 Azalea Festival 5K, placing 10th overall in 20:10.


The 2013 race started and finished at the Valdosta State University Recreation Center at 1300 Sustella Avenue. The Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority hosted the event, and A Course/Line provided finish line services.


Jesse PrinceTop Ten Males, 2013 Azalea Festival 5K
  1. 16:17 ~ Jesse Prince (M, 21) Valdosta, GA
  2. 16:36 ~ Nathinael Wondimu (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
  3. 18:39 ~ Carlos Ponce (M, 18) Valdosta, GA
  4. 18:52 ~ Ian Hester (M, 29) St. Louis, MO
  5. 19:25 ~ Jason Castro (M, 39) Valdosta, GA
  6. 19:28 ~ Matthew Baun (M, 13) Valdosta, GA
  7. 19:57 ~ Nicholas Dhont (M, 29) Barney, GA
  8. 20:08 ~ Jacob Bearrentine (M, 20) Valdosta, GA
  9. 20:10 ~ Daniel Swilley (M, 14) Valdosta, GA
  10. 20:30 ~ Justin Pickett (M, 15) Valdosta, GA

Danielle JarnaginTop Ten Females, 2013 Azalea Festival 5K
  1. 20:10 ~ Danielle Jarnagin (F, 19) Valdosta, GA
  2. 21:33 ~ Kelsey Morse (F, 10) Valdosta, GA
  3. 22:11 ~ Mackenzie Morse (F, 13) Valdosta, GA
  4. 22:26 ~ Meagan Sackenheim (F, 28) Valdosta, GA
  5. 22:59 ~ Angela Bruhl (F, 29) Quitman, GA
  6. 23:27 ~ McKenzie Page (F, 13) Ray City, GA
  7. 24:09 ~ Alison Thornhill (F, 33) Valdosta, GA
  8. 24:15 ~ Stephanie Gobler (F, 30) Atlanta, GA
  9. 24:25 ~ Angel Godwin (F, 39) Valdosta, GA
  10. 24:34 ~ Debbie Green (F, 46) Valdosta, GA


Valdosta Azalea Festival 5K champions, 2001-2013
DateMenWomenFinishers
17 March 2001
16 March 2002
15 March 2003
13 March 2004
12 March 2005
11 March 200616:51 ~ Andrew Minnicks20:34 ~ Susan Fischer123
10 March 200717:17 ~ Todd Smoot19:33 ~ Melissa Daugherty152
15 March 200816:56 ~ John Seppala21:46 ~ Brandi Faircloth143
14 March 200918:16 ~ Chris Gaither20:40 ~ Mary Anne Grayson155
13 March 201016:46 ~ Brandon Skiles20:54 ~ Brandi Faircloth126
12 March 201117:39 ~ James Marino20:39 ~ Alice Smoot131
10 March 201220:33 ~ Toby Wilkey22:10 ~ Christie Kingsbury109
  9 March 201316:17 ~ Jesse Prince20:10 ~ Danielle Jarnagin125


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